


Song Analysis

by england_is_mine



Category: Arctic Monkeys, Halsey (Musician), Last Shadow Puppets, The Strokes
Genre: 505, Anyways, Forever...(is a long time), Gas dance, I’m not pretentious I promise, Last Nite, Literature, M/M, Song Lyrics, Thought I’d give this a whirl, lyric analysis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/england_is_mine/pseuds/england_is_mine
Summary: A collection of song analysis entries from various songs I like!
Relationships: Miles Kane/Alex Turner
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. Gas Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there everyone, I thought I’d try this out to see if anyone was actually interested, which lets be honest, you’re not, you’re just here for smutty fics... but ah well. I have a huuuuge love for poetry and literature, and think that song lyrics should definitely be included under that. So here goes nothing I guess...
> 
> If you made it to the end, thanks so much! I’m all ears for disagreements, comments, discussions. If I sounded really bitchy -I promise I’m not- I do apologise.
> 
> Feel free to @ me on Tumblr @england-is-mine :)
> 
> This is a work of opinion, and any inferences are purely interpretative. The people’s privacy must be respected at all times.

_‘Gas Dance’_ by The Last Shadow Puppets is a song I believe to be about toxic relationships, and not just romantic ones. The lyrics or overarching theme of the song can be applied to any relationship, whether it be parental, sexual, romantic or platonic. Sounding ominous throughout, the song follows the voice of Turner and Kane describing a woman. In the opening verses, we see the story unfold with mirroring verses beginning with _‘there she/I was.’_

**(Turner)**

_There she was,  
Graciously making forever less terrifying.  
_ _And you've got the nerve, to intervene,  
_ _With a colouring book and a biro and a point to prove.  
_ _And now you want a word._

[CHORUS]

_There I was.  
_ _Panicking because someone else kissed me in a dream.  
_ _And it was on the cheek!  
And you stamp your feet,   
_ _And I’m moving from bored to appalled by these poignant fumes that you must inflict._

Beginning with the opening verse I believe Turner met someone who he believes he loves. Although it is easily implied he talking to the woman in the last three lines, it makes more sense for him to be talking to himself when he has _‘the nerve to intervene with a colouring book and a point to prove’._ My interpretation of this would be that actually he has the nerve to intervene in her life, with a mere colouring book and biro to outline why she should go out with him. A colouring book is an activity mainly deemed for children, and combined with Turner’s soft voice compared to Kane’s, outlines how, along with the pointlessness of a biro instead of coloured pencils, Turner feels weak in the relationship. Their whole relationship is therefore summed up in only three lines- they meet ( _graciously making forever…_ ), he convinces her ( _and you’ve got…_ ), and now she’s fed up of him ( _and now you want a word_ ).

After the chorus Turner continues, highlighting the toxicity of this woman more than before. We see how the relationship escalates with anger as the woman gets unnecessarily angry over a kiss on the cheek, in a dream. The listener is made to question why he tells her about the dream in the first place, perhaps because he is scared and wants to escalate the relationship and get out, or he perhaps does it completely innocently which would link back to Turner’s childlike nature in the previous verse. Either way, the relationship has taken a turn. Turner describes himself as going from _‘bored to appalled by these poignant fumes,’_ AKA her actions. He’s so used to (bored) of her actions but now they are getting too much for him to cope with. _‘That you must inflict’_ suggests with a modal verb, must, how she perhaps feels the NEED to create drama and tension between them just for the sake of it, or to get out of the relationship herself. 

Now for the first chorus in between these two verses:

**(Turner)** _Washed all the wisdom out your mouth_ _  
And the gas danced on the edge of your bottom lip_  
**(Kane)** _Quick to scurry back behind the night_ _  
To avoid the silent fight and the struggle._

This chorus is brief and immediately followed by the next verse, where as the next chorus is a lot louder and emphasised with an instrumental. There are many different ways of interpreting these four lines. The speaker is either talking to himself, his partner, or both. Based upon the context of the song and the bitterness portrayed, I’m taking an educated guess when I say that most likely the speaker is referring to his companion when Turner is singing, and himself when Kane is singing. This is because of the constant motif of gas throughout the song. The singer often refers to it as a _‘stench’_ and something generally very unpleasant. Gas in this context is meant as toxic, and we all know gas has the potential to be fatal and kills hundreds if not thousands. Whether it be the gas that killed thousands in genocides and wars, or the silent killer carbon monoxide, gas is highly dangerous. Carbon monoxide is a good example in this context as it kills people in their sleep without them realising or feeling anything, which links excellently back to Turner’s dream. He wakes up; the relationship is dead. 

Getting back to the point, her having _‘washed all the wisdom’_ out her mouth I believe is a hint to her having no more dignity or morals when it comes to her partner. She is throwing harsh words around to get him to leave- the gas. The fact that this gas dances is ironic -dancing is most commonly a fun hobby- and suggests that she enjoys doing this to him, making him hate it even more. As described before, he is appalled by these fumes. Kane joins in on the line _‘quick to scurry,’_ adding another voice to the piece for the first time, linking in with the idea that the speaker is now talking to himself. The line is pretty self-explanatory, the speaker perhaps metaphorically runs away and hides from the drama, but more vitally linking in with this idea of carbon monoxide, the speaker wants _‘to avoid the_ _silent_ _fight and the struggle,’_ so gets away. 

After verse two, we see the chorus again, but altered slightly:

**(Both)** _And you washed all the wisdom out of your mouth's_ _  
_ _And the gas danced on the edge of your bottom lip_ _  
_ _Someone told me that stench was called advice_ _  
_ _Someone told me that stench was called advice._ _  
_

An interesting change here is the change from _‘mouth’_ singular to _‘mouth’s’_ plural. How one letter can change the meaning entirely! Now, the music is louder, more intense, and both feel as if they are trapped in this toxic relationship. The original speaker is fighting back with harsh words, they have both lost their dignity, respect and wisdom for their partners and the original speaker is retaliating and caving into this toxic effect his partner has by arguing with her, when he should just walk away. _‘Someone told me that stench was called advice,’_ is what links in most with my opening statement about how this applies to every type of toxic relationship, but most commonly with men in toxic relationships. Men are consistently told to be masculine and strong growing up, leading to the obvious bottling up of emotion throughout their lives. ‘Someone’ being society in general, the speaker feels as if everyone is against him as they make comments like ‘women are like that, she’ll get over it,’ ‘you should listen to her,’ and ‘the woman is always right,’ despite all the harmful and toxic things she is doing and saying. Men are told to put up with this, which is why he stays- _‘someone told me that that stench was called advice’_ therefore really means ‘someone told me that that behaviour is normal,’ leading to him staying and being unhappy. As we already know however, he has started to retaliate and the relationship has started to break down. ‘Gaslighting’ refers to a toxic person who manipulates their partner/child/parent/friend into believing that their toxic behaviour did not really happen, which is how this line links into other relationships. ‘Someone’ could be any toxic person telling the victim that their harsh words are justified. It just so happens that the noun ‘gas’ appears in both the song and the phrase ‘gaslighting.’ If you light gas, a flame is immediate and destructive- like the woman in the song. 

Lastly, the fact that Turner and Kane both harmonise in this chorus is significant as they both add different layers to the delivery of the line. Turner's voice is much more soft and delicate, whereas Kane takes a harsher, rough and shouting approach, making the delivery appear more significant and more important than it was when sung briefly before, hinting that again, the relationship is more intense and bubbling up to become something more dangerous. The song continues with Kane’s harsh delivery and the music intensifying behind him unlike before, suggesting the relationship continues to escalate being fiery and bitter. It may be a stretch, but Kane has certainly sped the tempo of the song up here, making the listener feel as if he is unstoppable, just as both speakers feel the relationship is going around in circles. 

**(Kane)** _Took a silent breath, to a little rip._ _  
I got a cameo brooch  
To cover that hideous stench.  
_

_Oh, that grim reaper,  
And we're all upset.  
I see the fear in your cheeks,  
And I still smell the lies on your breath!  
And your jokes don't bounce, _

_And you've entered the early stages of bitterness._

I won’t over analyse that, but you get the gist. The relationship continues to be a mess, so much so that now it’s upsetting other people, despite being the _‘early stages,’_ hinting that this relationship may even continue. Instead of gas, the speaker chooses _‘lies,’_ hinting that she may have even cheated on her partner, or just continues to gaslight. The _‘fear’_ is a bit ominous however, as it doesn’t suggest who is scared. Perhaps both of them. There is then a small instrumental before the ending of the song:

**(Both)** _And she washed all the wisdom out your mouth’s,  
__And gas danced on the edge of your bottom lip,_  
_Quick to scurry back behind the night,_  
_To avoid the silent fight and the struggle_ (X3).

The only final comment there is that SHE washed the wisdom out their mouths, not him. The speaker is clearly bitter by this point, claiming that she caused them both unnecessary pain despite the fact that the speaker retaliated. Overall, this song reminds us to constantly analyse and recognise the warnings of a toxic relationship, male/female, parent/child, or just friends. The constant reminder of the dangers associated with gas even suggests it may kill us in the end, _‘oh that grim reaper…’_ and how it is therefore important that we get ourselves out of these situations before violence ensues. 


	2. Anyways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Song That Made Me Want To Delete Social Media, just because I loved writing it and thought some may like to weigh in.

It is obvious that _Anyways_ by Arctic Monkeys is a song about the influence of technology, and quite frankly it's stupidity and pointlessness at times, and combined with the impact of fame upon Turner makes for quite a sad B-Side. Here, I’ll give a little lyric breakdown and pick the words apart a bit, I hope you find some of the ideas enlightening. Here goes nothing. 

The word ‘anyways’ in itself is a clever choice for a song title as the added ‘s’ has only become popular in the 2000s as an informal dialect of _those pesky phones._ The pinpoint lyric that circulates back to the title is _‘it’s just another race to anyways,’_ the ‘it’ being all this pointless tech stuff that Turner seems to loathe so much. From this, we can infer that people seem to race too much for a race not worth running for: the race to be the best, prettiest, most interesting versions of themselves online. 

To prove it, let’s go through the song. Turner opens with _‘just another microcosm somewhere in the ether, putting the world to rights with Bing Crosby eyes.’_ In short, Turner is implying that our ‘microcosms,’ our texts, comments, our social media faces, allow us to put on a front of our perhaps political or radical beliefs through a black anonymous mirror. A microcosm is in fact defined as ‘a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger,’ hinting that our phones and social media profiles only scratch the surface of our minds, our true selves. 

You’ll notice that Turner’s voice tends to have an air of sarcasm to it, which applies to most of the album. I must admit, I had to use Google to root out info on Bing Crosby, an American singer. Citing _Genius Lyrics,_ a commenter put forward that Turner was reading a book at the time of writing in which Bing Crosby was slang for Cocaine. Crosby was also known for having particularly innocent, big eyes. Either way, the statement is contradictory, and shows the dangers of putting on this false face with an oblivious innocence- our political statements, ‘putting the world to rights,’ are misplaced online, where there is bias and less fact. 

_‘Over-sharing and its bitter aftertaste- in exactly the wrong time, in exactly the wrong place. Save it for a rainy day,’_ is fairly self-explanatory. Basically, people are sharing unnecessary, pointless crap when they could be meeting people, enjoying life, encapsulating memories from their own lenses, and maybe paying attention to the news instead. _‘Baby, you go hard in the paint,’_ is unusual. Again, with the wonderful tool that is _Genius_ , this is a basketball term for aggressively getting the ball in by moving forward fast to the opposing teams hoop. If you’ll notice, his voice is that bit louder, more persistent here too. His ‘baby’ is perhaps all too good at this social media stuff. 

_‘Philanthropic toga party- what a place for both the opposite sides of my double life to finally collide.’_ This is not the first time Turner has spoken on fame, most notably in _The Bourne Identity_ with The Last Shadow Puppets. In _TBI_ , he also refers to this double life he feels he is living. I would argue that he feels a hypocrite to his loathing of social media, as he himself feels a fraud, two different people- stage and fanmade Alex, versus real Alex- and they meet people in real life and get confused over which one he should be today. The randomness of a ‘philanthropic toga party,’ may not be as odd as it seems. Although the prospect is strange, a toga party being where one dresses up as a Greek or Roman, philanthropic meaning to promote the welfare or benefit of others, the placement is purposeful. On _Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino_ , we were all laughing to discover the randomness of the lyrics- _‘Good morning/cheeseburger/snowboarding/dog sitting/screwballing,’_ when in fact it is likely that this is just a reflection of one’s time spent pointlessly scrolling on Instagram or Facebook. In short, Turner screams at us, _what am I doing at this pointless self promoting corrupt party? Why am I here, with social media influencers?_

 _‘Sharing secrets I was taking to the grave. Nosebleeds from epiphanies I took full in the face- oh, come all by the fire babe, let’s all participate,’_ is what I can only hope is not a reference to yet again cocaine. Many suspect Turner does his fair share of cocaine, but there is no way of knowing. Even so, he dismisses the activity as pointless, _‘in yet another race to anyways.’_ This is a really difficult section, because unless of course, Turner refers to being punched in the face from a realisation, which links nicely to the ‘secret’. I won’t go into Milex allegations, but I prefer to think that this isn’t a link to cocaine as it doesn’t seem to match with the rest of the theme of technology being pointless. 

Everyone’s favourite part now. What I love so much about Turner’s lyrics is how personal they feel in combination with how his voice has developed, and the sound- I feel as if he’s right there in front of me, pouring his heart out, as cringe-worthy as it sounds. Hence why I can’t listen to _TBH &C _ without falling into a deep depression. _‘Oh, how’s your mum and dad been doing with the generation gap?’_ Demonstrates this perfectly, as he directly speaks to the younger generations, if not directly to his fans. Essentially, _get off of your phones, you ignorant so-and-so’s._

 _‘Yeah, I'm behind my movie camera, I’ve got my megaphone. You can call me Alexander- it’s nice to meet you all,’_ is a mockery of this power corruption social media gives in which you’re at the top of the food chain if you’ve got the most followers, likes, subscribers- you’re in the director's seat, you run the show. 

I do also love this next bit- it lightens up a little, and shows there is actually hope for Turner despite how trapped he feels in this world gone mad. _‘Listening to the Shipping Forecast, driving to the airport. Me and the guys, metropolis ablaze in the rear view,’_ gives a really nice nostalgic feeling of the Monkeys being on the road together, no phone distractions, just words and human contact. It reminds me of a very specific photo Matt took of Alex in the back of the tour minibus/van. A ‘metropolis’ is just another word for city- thanks Google. They’re leaving a world on fire, a world gone mad behind them, in their little bubble. It really demonstrates this closeness he feels with them, and that they’re some of the only people that take him away from this double life feeling. It also shows his love for writing and creating music has always stayed with him, despite this feeling. 

And then of course it gets bitter again. I cannot understate the intelligence behind some of these lyrics. _‘Devising methods to both have and eat your cake. Mmm, just like the ones that Mother Nature used to bake,’_ is a play on an English idiom (not sure about other languages!) that says you cannot both have your cake exist whole, AND eat it- meaning all good things come to an end, or that you can't always get what you want. Social media stars, of course don’t realise this, and are stereotypically wrapped up in their own self-worth and selfishness. 

Another golden set of lyrics which i’m about to ruin for the Milex shippers- _‘you look as if you know exactly what I’m gonna say, is just another race to anyways.’_ If you take the comma away, along with the obvious separation of the two lines in the way that they’re sung, the meaning changes entirely, and goes from an endearing ‘you can read me like a book’ to ‘you look at me as if everything I say is meaningless.’ However, I cannot imagine how many times Miles has looked at Alex and thought that everything he says is meaningless, so make of that endearing if you will. 

To conclude, this song has excellent lyrical depth and Turner never fails to astound in his songwriting. Even to the footsteps that pace away at the end of the song stretches the meaning- _I’ve made my point, make of it what you will._ Well, Alex, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I hope it does inspire you to take a break from the phone. It makes me want to throw mine in the ocean, but I’m not a demon, and I’m sure Alex isn’t either for the effective communication. 

The next time you think about posting an unkind or _unnecessary_ comment, scroll pointlessly instead of Revising For That Test, rant and rave on politics or whether Milex will ever be real, which we’re all guilty of, I hope you think of this instead. 


	3. 505

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically I've added to an essay I wrote for school that's taken me way too long to dig out of the cupboard. Hope ya'll enjoy! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I've given up with pronouns lol.

_How does Turner present ideas about loss of love in 505?_

Turner presents ideas about a loss of love as an exhausting and emotional journey, riddled with internal and external conflict in his song. Although not the most reliable of sources, the title itself and focal point '505' can be, according to Urban Dictionary, slang for a person you love who is also simultaneously toxic. He's going back to 505- he's going back to this person that is bad for him. 

To begin with, Turner presents a loss of love as a violent thing, both internally and externally. He talks of _'frightened by the bite,'_ _'the knife twists,'_ and _'hands around my neck,'_ to demonstrate this. In particular, the _'bite'_ and _'bark'_ are interesting, and play on an English idiom- Turner uses the idea of an aggressive dog to portray his feelings, and emphasises that perhaps both the physical abuse and harsh words that his lover gives him are both equally as painful as one another. The idea too of his lover strangling him, and still loving them, furthers his desire and emotion for them as anyone else would see this as abnormal behaviour. The violence is eerily confirmed in the next line, _'or I did last time I checked,'_ as we as listeners are shocked to understand that his lover has done this before- it is not an isolated incident, and yet he stays. 

Turner also presents ideas about a loss of love as an internal conflict, battle and struggle. Turner expresses his insecurities quite explicitly in the line _'the knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark,'_ AKA _'I would rather die than disappoint you,'_ This may just be an English thing, i'm not sure, but _'to fall short of the mark,'_ is to either miss out on something either literally- i.e. 'I fell short of the mark of booking those concert tickets,' or emotionally as Turner depicts, 'I fell short of the mark in XYZ' where XYZ is accidentally forgetting to kiss them as they walk past him, forgetting to text them- he must always be alert and obey to his lover's every whim. The idea of the knife twisting, something hunters do to confirm a kill from a deer, rabbit etc, is incredibly violent. He would rather not only be stabbed, but have the knife twist into him- than disappoint, which really confirms his insecurities. In some ways, this can be taken as a bold, poetic love statement, but in others, it can be seen as damaging. Turner also describes himself as _'crumbling completely,'_ when his lover cries, which just reiterates his adoration for them. The verb to _'crumble,'_ i.e. 'to break or fall apart into small fragments, **especially over a period of time as part of a process of deterioration,** ' as one would do to a cookie or a fragile item, only reinforces his loving affection which shows that he'll do anything for this person to be happy- so that he can stay whole. The significance of this line being the climax of the song almost dismisses any toxicity before it- the person he loves his more important, as well as the loss he so clearly feels at their parting, which is aided by the sudden crescendo or increase in volume of the music. All in all, the debilitating nature of him falling to pieces when his lover cries, really demonstrates the exhaustion of the conflict he feels. 

Lastly, Turner describes his loss of love as a like a journey, with phrases such as _'back to 505,' 'seven hour flight,'_ and _'45 minute drive.'_ He compares it to a journey as he has no idea of how long it will take or how long it will be painful. On his journey he's imagining the person he loves waiting for him _'lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs,'_ which creates a relaxed, peaceful and undisturbed image of this person in his mind only, which contrasts the end completely. He feels as if his entrance has disturbed this preconceived idea of peace- showing that he has forced himself to arrive at 505 to break up with them no matter the distance, either because of the toxicity of the relationship or there is some hidden meaning as to why they can't be together. The love is further felt in _'take my hands off of your eyes too soon,'_ This small gesture, despite the fact that he has _'spoilt the surprise,'_ shows his affection despite his insecurities, but the _'too soon,'_ hints that the damage is done, they push him away, and it's the end. 

Overall I believe 505 is a song about either forbidden love and its emotional and physical effects, or a love that doesn't work. Either way, the loss of love is clearly damaging, exhausting and even violent, and shows the impact of loving someone so much on your mentality. 


	4. Last Nite

‘Last Nite’ by The Strokes follows a story of a man (we can assume Casablancas) who consistently rejects a girl. This seems to be a large theme in Casablancas’ lyrics, with lyrics such as ‘Can’t you find some other guy?’ ‘I just want to turn you down, I just want to turn you around,’ ‘I never needed anybody, I never needed nobody.’ Casablancas commonly creates situations in his songwriting that depicts him treating women poorly, or arguing with women, exacerbating his failures with them. This could be down to many factors, but based on Casablancas’ songwriting it could be argued that his failures with women are a consequence of his insecurities with both himself and his place in the world, and ‘Last Nite,’ depicts this perfectly.

The chorus of the song is as follows:

Last night, she said- “Oh baby I feel so down, oh it turns me off, when I feel left out,”

So I, I turned ‘round- “Oh babe I don’t care no more, I know this for sure, I’m walking out that door,”

The first line always remains the same, but the second is changed with each chorus:

So I, I turned ‘round- “Oh baby gonna be alright,”

It was a great big lie

‘Cause I left that night, yep

So I, I turned ‘round- “Oh little girl I don’t care no more, I know this for sure, I’m walking out that door, yeah.”

This is significant because Casablancas gets increasingly frustrated with each chorus, going from ‘babe’ to ‘little girl,’ diminishing her. This comes despite him always going back to her. The problem seems to be that he’s not spending enough time with her, and he’s definitely not prepared to change this despite the contrast and irony that comes after the first chorus:

Well i’ve been in town for just about 15 oh minutes now

And baby I feel so down

And I don’t know why! 

Casablancas seems to deal with inner conflict and contrast quite a lot in his songs, which again can be seen with lyrics such as: ‘Can’t you see i’m trying? I don’t even like it,’ ‘I say the right thing but act the wrong way/I like it right here but I cannot stay,’ and ‘I should’a worked much harder/I should’a just not bothered.’ Casablancas therefore seems to ruin things for himself with this girl on purpose because of this ironic contrast by which he rejects her, but is then sad when he’s alone. This may be down to a fear of being happy- because perhaps he’s scared of being hurt by external forces instead. These ‘external forces’ are always hazy, as shown in the song’s bridge:

See people they don’t understand

No girlfriends they can’t understand

Your grandsons they won’t understand

On top of this I ain’t ever gonna understand

Notice how the level goes from ‘don’t’ to ‘won’t’, emphasising the levels of truly not being able to understand. This chorus is repeated throughout apart from one anomalie with line three that is changed to ‘in spaceships they won’t understand,’ which furthers the point Casablancas is trying to make by bringing his feelings outside of where the entirety of human experience is based, as well as ‘spaceships’ being seemingly random. 

What exactly is not being understood is never explained, but it can be assumed that no one, not even himself knows why he’s treating this girl in this way, and why he’s denying himself happiness. It could be down to poor mental health, but analysing Casablancas’ lyrics too much here can take away from the meaning of the message by which Casablancas is just pouring out his thoughts so that someone may relate to them, which he has said himself before. This is effective, as he accentuates the feelings of male angst or poor mental health in men by extending his list of people that ‘just don’t understand’ to space itself, where hardly anyone goes. Including himself in this mix of not being able to understand, Casablancas comes across as relatable for men especially who feel the same way. The listener is linked to Casablancas through this mutual understanding of people ‘just not getting it’ which makes the omission of the actual subject (what is being understood) more effective. 

The cycle of Casablancas leaving his girlfriend and going back to her repeatedly could be a metaphor for how he’s dealing with his feelings, or how he views existence as pointless because of how things repeat themselves. This again is another theme in many of his lyrics: ‘the end has no end,’ ‘I wanna be forgotten, and I don’t wanna be reminded,’ and ‘Wednesday is over, it’s over again.’ The recurrence of this theme in his songwriting, his habit of repetition especially at the end of a song and lastly the way that he elongates many of his sounds, is in itself a metaphor for how he views the cycle of life as never-ending and somewhat pointless.

Overall, Casablancas’ effective use of metaphor and storytelling paints a picture of his worldview uncommon to many songwriters, and combined with the musical elements makes for relatable lyrics and good music.

  
  



	5. Forever... (is a long time)

Forever… (is a long time) by Halsey is one of my favourite songs, especially lyrically. Halsey creates some excellent metaphorical imagery in her writing to reflect ideas/how she’s feeling. In particular, I think that Forever is an honest outpouring of emotions, to do with self-loathing and admitting certain behaviour, and also a comment on love- to be more specific her admiration of her lover and her feelings on the subject.

Linking to that, let’s kick off with the title and first lines. The word ‘forever,’ appears nowhere in the song, so it’s up to us to decide what it means here. Combined with the ‘long time,’ my immediate thoughts were that it’s a comment on commitment. Saying that forever is a long time implies that perhaps Halsey feels as if marriage and commitment in relationships is something that scares her. ‘Forever,’ combined with the ellipsis (...) is almost dream-like, as you can imagine a teenage girl dreaming about her ‘forever’ with someone, but then the brackets break this illusion. 

This is backed up in the first lines:

I spent a long time

Watering a plant made out of plastic

And I curse the ground for growing green

I’m obsessed with this metaphor! It can suggest many things, but it is obvious that it hints at the feeling you get when something isn’t going exactly your way. In my opinion, it suggests that she’s watering the plant (the metaphor, especially for a relationship), knowing that it’s plastic, and yet continuing to curse the grass (other people in happy relationships) for continuing to grow and thrive. The irony is huge, as she’s trying to give life to something not living (the relationship), and failing- but yet continuing anyway. She wants to be happy, like the thriving grass outside, and stops herself from being so, perhaps out of fear- especially her fear of ‘forever.’ ‘Spent,’ being a past participle, hints that she’s stopped doing this now. The admission is vital for her self-growth, however, which is common to most of Halsey’s songs on her latest album Manic. 

I spent a long time

Substituting honest with sarcastic 

And I curse my tongue for being mean

This is a little more direct. Her sarcasm comes across as harsh to those closest to her, and she perhaps feels as if she can’t stop. 

And weightless, breathless, restitute

Motionless and absolute

He cut me open

Sucked the poison from an aging wound

‘Restitute’ after some Googling I’m fairly certain is not actually a word, but rather the noun form of the verb ‘restitution’ which in physics means to return something to its original state. It can also mean to restore something lost or stolen, or to give money to someone after an injury or loss. 

However, here, I think Halsey is referring to the effortless state she finds herself in returning back to ‘the way things were,’ either by dumping someone or continuing in this cycle of self-damaging behaviour. The ‘weightless,’ ‘breathless,’ ‘motionless,’ and ‘absolute,’ just reinforces how effortlessly she finds herself in these toxic positions- she admits defeat so brutally. 

I love the imagery she creates with this next bit, too. Although on the surface it can make not much sense (why would the wound be aging if he just cut her open) but the metaphorical language suggests he’s reopening rather a mental wound and pressing at it. The fact that she’s letting him do it, too, suggests that this is normal for her so she doesn’t question it. The language is also quite violent and gruesome, as opposed to the piano here. 

Now fifty-thousand war cadets

Would cower at this small brunette 

To my surprise not six feet high 

Would reach and grab the moon 

If I should ask or just imply 

That I want it to be more light

So I could look inside his eyes

And get the colours just right

Just right

Just right

Just

Again, more cool imagery. Here I initially thought was a description of her admiration of her lover, assuming that he is in fact the ‘small brunette.’ Now though, I realise that it could just as easily be her, and how she feels small but yet is able to reach and grab the moon. Feminism, am I right! This gives the image that although the war cadets are cowering over her, she jumps up to ask the moon if it can be more light so she can paint her lover perfectly. Halsey is in fact an artist and paints often, which can be seen on her Instagram. 

On the front of it being a man instead, there could be many different meanings. I get from the ‘small,’ the idea of cute and adorable rather than weak, despite the war cadets, just based on how the music sounds- here Halsey sounds happy and expressive. It could in fact just be a comment on the brutality of war and how she uses this as a metaphor for how she’s feeling mentally. The possibilities.

Her obsession with it being more light so that she can paint him accurately I think is a beautiful way of expressing her admiration for him. However, it is also where the key changes in the song from major (louder, uplifting) to minor (typically sad and quieter). Her voice quietens to almost a whisper starting with ‘just right,’ and her voice trails off to the point where she doesn’t even finish the last line there. The emotion in her voice is almost powerful, and it seems as if she’s in pain. Perhaps this is a lover who doesn’t exist yet, and she’s longing for him, or he’s left her/she misses him. Hence the not being able to see property/painting blind in the dark. She so desperately wants to see (paint) him, but can’t.

After that there’s sort of an ominous piano interlude, accompanied by rain, which builds up to the ‘finale,’ Halsey’s voice here is much louder and much more powerful/passionate. 

Build love, build God, build provinces 

Build calluses, break promises

‘Cause I could never hold a perfect thing

And not demolish it 

I think the first two lines are Halsey describing how she navigates a relationship. She’ll build anything for them- love, God, provinces* (a ‘callus’ is a bit of hard skin where there has been friction/a previous wound, suggesting that she repairs wounds for them, either her own or theirs), and then breaks all of these promises. This is backed up in the next line, which is quite a bold statement to admit. Yet here, she does it effortlessly, which is admirable. It seems obvious that this is about sabotaging her own relationships as a child has no comprehension for living things and accidentally kills them, but it could mean friendships and other relationships, too. This could be a hint to her bipolar disorder and how she feels it may have something to do with how it sabotages relationships. Lastly, we come to even more of a bold statement:

What am I thinking? What does this mean?

_How could somebody ever love me?_

Talk to your man

Tell him he’s got bad news comin’ 

The way she rolls these questions out off her tongue as if she’s listing them I think is clever. The third one is an instant admission of self-loathing, destructive attitudes. 

The last line links to the next track on the album, Dominic’s Interlude with Dominic Fike. On the track, he says:

Talk to your man, tell him he’s got bad news comin’

**Walk on the edge with someone new**

Talk to your man 

**Time to have some good time lovin’**

**You can take a chance**

**Come take my hand**

It’s obvious here that Fike is telling her to leave her partner, and perhaps it’s a message to the audience to let go of the past. Feminism strikes again, maybe? Leave him, girl. He’s not good for you. The contrast of having Dominic’s upbeat, positive, uplifting male voice here directly after Halsey’s ‘Forever’ I think is a nice contrast. The direct links in between songs makes the album feel like one big outpouring of ideas. Bringing in the opposite sex I think was a particularly good idea which just adds another voice to Halsey’s lyrics and ideas, almost validating them for the opposite sex too. 

Overall I do think the song has that ‘girls can do anything,’ connotation to it, especially with the imagery of her not being 6ft tall but being able to reach the moon, whilst also being self-loathing and cynical at the same time. In one of her concerts she said ‘I make the mistakes, so you guys don’t have to.’ I guess that’s what she wants us to take from this, too. For us to know our own self worth, before throwing ourselves at others.

  
*province: meaning a division of a country of empire or (British) anywhere outside of the capital  
  



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